A Bird with Clipped Wings
by Dream'sRealm
Summary: The story of Starscream and how a once proud Vos prince was broken.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, Transformers Prime, or its canon characters. I am simply a humble individual who God blessed with writing skill and a love for said fandom. **

**Theme Song: Numb by Disturbed **

Before the Great War, he wasn't at all how anyone would have pictured. He did not grovell. He did not connive. Instead, he was proud and walked with a cocky gait, his wings aloft proudly. He was a Seeker prince and it was to be expected.

He had everything any mech could have ever wanted: status, respect, femmes who worshipped the ground he walked on, and the power to get anything he desired.

Of course, life in the Vosian Royal Palace wasn't always so glamorous. For one thing, he wasn't even first in line to get the throne. That honor was reserved for Thundercracker, his eldest brother, and then Skywarp, and then him if they were both offline. Secondly, there was the whole matter of his carrier. She was an unhappy femme as most were in the Palace due to arranged bondings, and her captivity only worsened her troubled processor.

Because of her blatant hatred towards his sire and all mechs in general and her desire for a femmeling, she fashioned her youngest son into what she desired. She forced the palace medic to reformat his armor to make him look more femme-like in order to appease her fragile sanity.

It kept his sparkmate occupied and placid and so, the king said nothing of it.

Starscream loathed his carrier, and he hated the jeers that Skywarp gave him and the veiled looks of pity that Thundercracker tried to hide. And, he hated how he had to lie and say that his slim frame was purposefully fashioned in order to aide his flight maneuvers by reducing air resistance.

That bitterness festered in his spark as well as jealousy… and the inbred need to be respected. True respect and fear, not obligatory bows that all citizens of Vos were forced to perform. And he knew that if he waited for his brothers to kick the bucket, so to speak, he would never get what he desired.

So a few voors after their creators' deaths, he took his destiny into his own hands.

_A devious smirk pulled on Starscream's lip components as he observed two mechs talking in the palace library. The large blue one seemed weary as he pored over various datapads whilst the more agile black and purple one was laughing and joking loudly. His brothers were there. Excellent. _

_Fingering the cubes of high-grade, he stepped into the light and morphed his expression into that of a compassionate friend. Upon seeing him, Skywarp grinned. "Screamy, so nice of you to join us. We were about to send out some bodyguards to look for you." _

_Starscream fought to keep the irritation of hearing his nickname from shining through his facade. "I appreciate your concern, Skywarp, but I can handle myself." _

"_Yeah, I bet. With that figure, you'll seduce any assassin," Skywarp joked before he was cut off by his eldest brother's stern glare._

_Thundercracker vented wearily before turning to Starscream with a soft smile. "Forgive him. He's overcharged, I'm afraid. He seemed to celebrate my coronation ceremony more than I did." _

"_Eh, whatdya think the high grade was for, TC?"_

_Starscream ignored Skywarp for the moment. "You do not seem excited, Thundercracker. You are king of Vos now. Is that not something to celebrate?"_

_Thundercracker vented. "Of course, but you see, I have so much responsibility on my shoulders now… and things to fix after our sire's reign. The lower castes are suffering and I must make sure that I do not make Sire's mistakes in regards to them."_

_Poor, poor, Thundercracker. Always so soft-sparked. He'll never see this coming, Starscream thought. _

"_Of course." Starscream handed him and Skywarp the glasses of high-grade. "Now, a toast. To our beloved brother and the new king of Vos." _

"_Aw, Screamy. Ya shouldn't have," Skywarp grinned before he greedily downed the cube. He hiccuped as he raised it. "To TC!"_

_Thundercracker smiled hesitantly before taking a sip of his own cube. _

_Three… Two. Starscream watched in twisted glee as first Skywarp then Thundercracker clutched their throat cables, coughing as shudders wracked their frames. One, he mentally finished with a smirk. _

_Thundercracker looked at Starscream with fear in optics as he slowly fell to his knees. "Star-... Starscream… Help us," he wheezed. _

"_Mmm, sorry. I'm rather busy at the moment enjoying the show."_

_Skywarp convulsed where he lay, energon seeping out of his optics and mouth. "Y-You-... fragging-" _

"_It would be wise to watch your glossa around the king, dearest brother," Starscream hissed with venom before another smirk played on his lip components. Skywarp glanced up, terrified, as he reached for an antique sword that decorated the wall. The blade reflected of his silver armor as the murderer purred, "All hail Starscream."_

_Skywarp had no chance to scream or call out for help before the blade sliced through his throat cables. _

It was the perfect plan. Starscream knew that his brothers would easily overpower him if he tried to terminate them using brute strength alone. And if he used any long-range weapons, the guards would hear and surely make him pay for his attempted treachery. The poison was easy to procure. The royal family had many enemies and Starscream was a master in the art of lying. Not to mention that it weakened a bot so much so that they couldn't even scream.

Liquid, and more importantly untraceable, perfection.

His brothers' murders were blamed on the rabble and even those who dared to accuse him of the deed were either terminated or banished.

He was the ruler of Vos now and he had never felt more alive.

Though sadly, things didn't go according to his plan. There was a War brewing on Cybertron because of a Kaonian gladiator, Megatronus, who defied the Iaconian Council and the whole caste system. While Starscream thought that his ideals were useless drivel, he also knew that joining forces with the gladiator might be advantageous to himself.

Vos was the birthplace of the greatest flier force on Cybertron, a force that could easily crush a grounder army. And when Megatronus won the War, Starscream could easily dispose of him and rule not only Vos, but all of Cybertron.

His plan was flawless and as he became Megatron's Second in Command, he saw his power grow. What a rush it was to command an entire Seeker armada and to see all those who opposed him crushed. His pride in himself grew so much so that he believed himself to be beyond reproach, even that of Megatron's.

But little did he know that his leader's slowly darkening spark would have no room for tolerance against his behavior any longer.

"_Starscream, my orders were clear! Take a Seeker force and capture the citadel. And what have you brought me? News that the Autobots felled your entire squadron?!"_

"_It is Prince Starscream to you!" Starscream bit back, wings flaring. "And this catastrophe is hardly my fault. The generals you gave me were incompetent and hardly from the Royal Vos Air Force. They had no knowledge of basic flight maneuvers and so you are to blame." _

"_You are no prince here!" Starscream gasped as he was backhanded by the Decepticon warlord, his clawed servos scraping his facial plating. He shakily reached a servo up and his optics widened in indignation as he felt the energon leak out of his wounds. He stepped back cautiously as the warlord arose from his throne on Darkmount and began to approach him. "I have put up with your pride for far too long, Starscream, and I believe it is time you learned due respect for my authority." _

_The Seeker snarled up at the larger mech. "I am a prince of Vos and I command you to stop, you filthy commoner-" _

_He screamed as one of his sensitive wings was grabbed and twisted. The pain crippled him as the metal creaked under the pressure of the warlord's servo and important wiring popped and frayed. Starscream was jerked up to Megatron's level. _

"_My name is Lord Megatron to you! I am your master; you obey me. Are we clear?"_

_Starscream glared up at him defiantly and refused to answer. He screeched however as his wing was yanked again. Slaggit, was he trying to tear it off?!_

"_Perfectly, Master," Starscream all but spat. _

_Snarling, Megatron dropped him and roughly kicked him out of the way. "See that he is repaired. We are finished here."_

Cycle after cycle, beating after beating, Starscream's spirit was broken. His posture was no longer confident and prideful but hunched over as if expecting an attack at any moment. In his stay on the Nemesis, he became so paranoid. Soundwave seemed to watch his every move and he attempted to hide any mistake that he made in order to avoid another punishment at the hands of his lord.

His intelligence suffered. While he still was useful to the Decepticons, his cunning faltered because of his crippling fear and his many schemes to offline his tormentor showed that. He got sloppy and it sickened him how a once proud Vos prince could stoop so low as to become a grovelling coward.

But he had come to learn that cowards did survive. He remained in the Decepticons only for the chance to terminate Megatron and gain his power. Cybertron would be his to rule. He would see to that.

But his plans never succeeded. Amidst his scheming, he had lost any shred of compassion he had left. Because he lashed out at anyone who dared come close or manipulated them like mere puppets and was without any semblance of mercy, he died alone with the knowledge that he had failed. Cybertron would never be his. He was worthless…

He inwardly chuckled bitterly as he felt his optics offline. When Knock Out refused to aide him in taking the Nemesis and attempted to terminate him when he threatened his new Autobot comrades, Starscream tried to return the favor… only to find himself stabbed through the spark by a mere femme. A beautiful Seeker by the name of Darkstorm.

Skywarp, he thought. I can almost hear your pit-spawned voice mocking me.

He slumped over on the floor of the Nemesis, bleeding out as the femme pulled out her sword.

Regrets?

He had a few.

And not doing more to achieve his goals was one of them.

Now, he was just an empty husk, a despised memory, a soul forever damned because of his own pride. A once glorious creature whose wings were clipped.

**D/N: Mech, can't you tell I'm in a dark mood? Well, not exactly a dark mood. More like a hampering for writing morbid material but it's around the same thing. Lol, anyway here is the tragedy of Starscream. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and tell me if you liked it! **

"**For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" 2 Corinthians 3:17**

**May God bless you and your day, my dear friends!**

**Until next time, Dream'sRealm **


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